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Congress to Vote This Week on School of the Americas Transparency‏

Urge your Congressperson to vote YES on the McGovern-Sestak-Bishop (GA)-Lewis (GA) amendment!

By entering your information below, your address and zip code will be matched with your Member of Congress and your letter will automatically be directed to their office. After you send the message, follow up to make sure they received your request by calling the Congressional switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected with your Representative's office, and when you are connected, make sure to identify yourself as a constituent and ask to speak with the military legislative assistant in the office. ***Make sure to click the "Send a fax" button below!!***

 http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/t/3823/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27492

[USLEAP has received this important action alert from the School of the Americas Watch.  The School of the Americas, which continues to function in Fort Benning, GA as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Coooperation, has trained thousands of Latin American soldiers in counter insurgency measures.   Many of those trained have gone on to engage in egregious human rights abuses against civilians, including Latin American trade unionists.  We urge you to respond to this request for action.  For more information, visit www.soaw.org]

Click here to send an email and fax to your Representative.

Start calling Congress now!

SOA Watch has received confirmation that Congress will vote on an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act that would require that the School of the Americas/WHINSEC to release the names, ranks, country of origin, courses and dates attended of students and instructors at the institute.

The amendment will be offered by Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA), Representative Joe Sestak (D-PA), Representative Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Representative John Lewis (D-GA) and we expect the vote to happen on Wednesday, June 24.

For the past few years, despite the WHINSEC PR machine proclaiming an open and transparent school, the WHINSEC has been unwilling to provide information about the students and instructors. The Pentagon secrecy took effect after research revealed that the SOA/ WHINSEC continues to train known human rights abusers, and that instructors have been involved in numerous crimes. Freedom of Information Act requests since FY 2005 have all been denied, proof of WHINSEC's unwillingness to submit to oversight from the public whose tax-payer dollars help fund the school.

Access to information regarding SOA/ WHINSEC graduates of previous years has been a valuable asset to human rights organizations who have been able to identify Latin American military officers and police that have committed human rights abuses or engaged in criminal activity in their home countries after attending the school as instructors or students.

SOA Watch supports the release of this important information at all U.S. military training facilities in the spirit of openness, transparency, and the public's "right to know." We see gaining access to the names of SOA/ WHINSEC graduates and instructors as a crucial step towards closing the SOA/ WHINSEC for good.

We expect a close vote and it is crucial for the success of this amendment that you contact your Representative TODAY and TOMORROW!

SEND AN EMAIL AND FAX TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW!

Be sure to click the "Send a Fax" box to have the fax sent.

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE!!! -- TUESDAY, June 23 AND WEDNESDAY, June 24

Call the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or toll free at 1-800-473-6711

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/t/3823/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27492